


Best Gift Ever

by Pennygirl612



Category: White Collar
Genre: Fluff, Gen, Happy Ending, Mother's Day, Post Series
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-12
Updated: 2019-05-12
Packaged: 2020-03-01 14:15:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 965
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18801988
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pennygirl612/pseuds/Pennygirl612
Summary: It's Mother's Day and Elizabeth gets the best gift she could ever ask for.





	Best Gift Ever

**Author's Note:**

> Story is set about 5 years after the series ends.

Best Gift Ever

Elizabeth was the first to get up though she had been tempted to stay in bed and see what surprises her husband and son had in store for her this special Sunday morning. Unfortunately, her need to pee as well as the monstrous snoring coming from her husband overruled thoughts of staying within the warm, comfortable confines of the bed. 

As she made her way down the stairs and towards the kitchen, Elizabeth spied a ginormous, colorful bouquet out on the dining room table. With a growing smile, she happily strolled over to the breath-taking arrangement, closed her eyes, and took a moment to simply inhale the different scents emanating from the freshly cut flowers.

Interrupted by a growling stomach and a desire for coffee, Elizabeth turned away from the flowers without taking the time to look at the attached card. In fact, she didn’t really give it much thought. While it was true the display was more extravagant and elaborate than her husband’s normal style, who else would they be from? 

Still smiling, Elizabeth entered the kitchen where what she saw stopped her short in her tracks. There on the small kitchen island was another bouquet of flowers; a dozen red roses to be exact along with a small box of Belgium chocolates and a pink card. Elizabeth recognized that this more modest gift exactly matched her husband’s style unlike what was so prominently displayed in the other room. Quickly, she marched over to the island. Ripping the envelope open, she didn’t bother to read the card itself but instead opened it up scanning to find Peter’s familiar signature. 

No longer smiling, Elizabeth returned to the dining room and just stared at the flowers. She shivered as a chill passed through her leaving her feeling as if a ghost had just entered the room. She hugged herself for warmth and tried to stop her brain from diving into the past, from thinking thoughts that could only set her up for heartache and disappointment. 

It couldn’t be, she thought. Not after all this time. It just couldn’t be, could it?

Despite her best attempts to keep the past locked safely away inside her head, Elizabeth found her thoughts returning to the last time she had received such a large bouquet. That time, the flowers had been both an apology and a goodbye. If she was right about the sender of these flowers, she couldn’t help but wonder what message they were meant to portray this time. Did she dare hope that while they were still an apology but maybe, just maybe, they were also meant to be a prelude for return?

Taking a deep breath, Elizabeth reached for the card and was disappointed when she found only the words “Happy Mother’s Day” typed neatly on the otherwise plain, cream-colored card. Frustrated and unable to move, she continued to stare at the flowers silently imploring them to speak to her and share their secrets. 

Speak to her…that thought triggered another memory. Flowers had not been the only gift she had received that fateful day so many years ago. Carefully, she combed through the arrangement and her hand immediately stilled when she spied what she had been looking for tucked down deep between a white lily and pink rose. With a trembling hand, she withdrew the small, black flip phone. 

Holding the phone, Elizabeth waited…and waited…and waited. When several minutes passed by in silence, she gave up her expectation of an incoming call and instead studied the phone. Finding nothing unusual on the outside, Elizabeth flipped it open and her heart skipped a beat when she saw there was one voicemail message. Holding her breath, she hit play.

Immediately she found her eyes tearing up hearing a voice she had not heard in over five years. And the tears did fall when she played it again, listening to the message this time and not solely focused on the voice. The message was brief, but it told her all she needed to know.

Her hand trembling even more than before, she carefully dialed the number provided. It seemed an eternity before the phone started to ring but when it did, Elizabeth froze. She swore she heard an echo ring. To test her theory, she lowered the phone away from her ear and sure enough she soon heard another ring but it wasn’t close. In fact it didn’t sound like it came from within the house at all.

Re-entering the kitchen, Elizabeth was rewarded with a louder echo that sounded suspiciously as if it was coming from the backyard. Hurrying to the other side of the room, Elizabeth quickly turned off the alarm and fumbled with the locks before she could finally get the door open. 

And there on the other side was…who exactly? Her husband’s former CI? His friend? Her friend? No, she told herself. None of those things adequately described who Neal was to her. The best description, the only description really, was that Neal was like an adopted son; albeit a wayward, mischievous son who most certainly damn near killed her when he had faked his own death!

They stared at each other for a long moment, neither seeming to know what to say to break the silence. At last, Elizabeth raised an eyebrow at him and questioned the message he had left on the phone.

“So when you said you were only a phone call away…?” 

Neal smiled sheepishly and shrugged, “The implied distance may have been exaggerated.”

Finding himself suddenly drawn into a pressing bear hug, Neal laughed and said, “Happy Mother’s Day, Elizabeth!”  
And Neal was both surprised and humbled by Elizabeth’s response. While still holding him tightly, she whispered into his ear, “Best gift ever!”


End file.
